watchman: "If thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand" (Ezek. xxxiii. 8; iii. 17-21). Pastoral responsibility, however, has its limitation. Christ does not require of His servants impossible labor; but as they have received their talents, so they are to use them, each "according to his several ability." If faithful to his trust, the pastor is "unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish" (2 Cor. ii. 15-17), and it is his right to feel he has "delivered his soul" and is "pure from the blood of all men" (Acts xx. 26, 27). Such was the ministry of Paul, a mere man, aided in this only by such Divine help as is promised to every other servant of God. It is fidelity, not success, which constitutes the limit of responsibility. Success belongs to God. Paul plants, Apollos waters, but God gives the increase. Jeremiah spoke with the earnestness and tenderness of lips inspired, but he was unpopular, and, as men would measure, unsuccessful; nevertheless, his name stands high among the ancient worthies, because in that degenerate age he was faithful to his trust and work. Besides, a minister's power is not measured by the immediate, outward result. The powerful revival in which hundreds are gathered into the church finds its occasion, indeed, in the peculiar gifts of some popular preacher, but its real causes often lie hid in the quiet, patient toil of other men differently gifted. Every man has his special adaptation and work--one sows and another reaps--and only in the great harvest at the end of the world will the actual results of each man's work appear. Hence, Christ says to every servant of His: "Be thou _faithful_ unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Rev. ii. 10). Fidelity, then, is the limit of responsibility; and the earnest pastor, who, with heartfelt loyalty to Christ, has to the extent of his ability and opportunity faithfully fulfilled his calling, may know assuredly that he has the approval of the Master, and that awaiting him at the end is the sure reward of the faithful. +SECTION XIX. THE OUTER LIFE OF A PASTOR.